Chemical Ali Hanged Until Dead, Dead, Dead

The government of Iraq has finally executed “Chemical Ali” Hassan al-Majid, arguably the most heinous official of the former regime save his cousin, Saddam Hussein.

Majid, an enforcer in Saddam Hussein’s regime and his cousin, had earlier been sentenced to death four times for genocide and crimes against humanity. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to death for ordering the gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja in 1988.

It is believed that about 5,000 people died in the attack. Iraqi jets swooped over Halabja and for five hours sprayed it with a lethal cocktail of mustard gas and the nerve agents Tabun, Sarin and VX.

No word on whether they will bother trying to carry out the other three sentences. My guess is not.

Majid was “executed by hanging until death,” Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement. “The execution happened without any violations, shouting or cries of joy,” he added, in sharp contrast to Saddam’s death on the gallows in 2006.

Excellent news, in that it would seem a strong indication that the Iraqi government has internalized the rule of law and respect for the fact that this is a state-sanctioned punishment rather than a revenge killing. At very least, they’ve learned enough to lie about it.